CBenson wrote:I'd remove "exact" as my understanding is that the waze result is used only if Google is unable to turn up any result at all.

I've seen a couple of cases recently where Waze returns different results for the same address with slight spelling variations. E.g., in Washington DC, putting "N.W." at the end of an address may give you a different result than putting "NW". I guess that Google returns a result for one spelling and not the other.

State Manager: District of ColumbiaAM Northern Virginia/Washington, D.C./Sussex County, DE/Westchester County, NY

You get some weird results in New Jersey with highway-shield-based addresses. For example, according to the post office, addresses in NJ along federal highways should either use the word Route or the phrase US Highway - 2344 Route 130, or 2344 US Highway 130. Both ways seem to work well, but if you try to search for 2344 US-130 (or other addresses along federal routes - I've seen many, many UR's for this) you get completely unpredictable results.

The same thing happens for state highways. The post office accepts the phrase State Route - 1800 State Route 35, and it appears to find addresses that way pretty well. But put in 1800 SR-35 or 1800 NJ-35 (or other address along a state route) and you get completely unpredictable results.

Is this because neither Google nor Waze can find the address and Waze just ends up guessing at the nearest number actually defined in its system? I've seen some UR complaints epically off, even in other cities sometimes.

I think the current answer is largely correct, and provides a link with instructions on how to update location data on Google Maps.

I guess at this point is, do we want to add:- Something about Waze displaying some locations based on the landmark layer?- Something about Waze using unspecified Waze owned data sources when Google fails to return a result for an address lookup?- Something about making sure to run a new search, and not use your search history, in order for Waze to use updated information?

My concern is that the answer is already a bit too complex and technical for a lot of users. If we update the answer to make it even more comprehensive, does it help? Or does it just cause more confusion for a normal non-technical user?

As an alternative, should we maybe add a dedicated page (sub page) we can link to with a more detailed explanation of our current understanding of how location searches work? We could also perhaps add screen shots and step by step instructions on how to update location data at the different providers.

Also you mentioned in the other thread that Amit has told you that Waze is using the WME address information if Google doesn't return a result. If we are sure that is the case, I think I'd like to make the following change:

Current:The Waze map editor currently allows for the limited placement and adjustment of addresses on streets, and while it is a good idea to update this address information for accuracy, it is not currently being used by Waze for navigation.

New:The Waze map editor currently allows for the limited placement and adjustment of addresses on streets, and while it is a good idea to update this address information for accuracy, it is currently only being used if Google is unable to turn up an exact match for the search terms.

CBenson wrote:Amit keeps telling me that Waze is. That the location is from the Waze internal database is usually the explanation I get when I ask about a destination pin that I can't explain. The information that Amit gave me regarding the "Anderson Ferry" result was: "When you search '2001 Anderson Ferry', Google does not return a relevant result, and the '2001 Anderson Ferry Rd, Cincinnati, OH' result you see is from Waze's DB. If it's incorrect, it's because our data is inaccurate."

I'm not sure what data is in the Waze internal database. Its not just the street names and house numbers we input. When I asked if the Waze internal database includes the house numbers from WME, Amit's response was that the database includes "the house numbers, streets, landmarks, and data from our advertisers."

There's been some debate in this thread ( https://www.waze.com/forum/viewtopic.ph ... 9&p=598211 ) about changing the wording in the FAQ about what to do when location information is wrong, specifically about referring people to the GPS.gov website which explains where GPS location data comes from and provides links to the pages to submit corrections to.

For the moment, I've removed that section from the FAQ.

The paragraph in question:

Most providers offer a way to submit corrections to their location data. It is normal for more than one provider to have the same bad information. This is due to their being two primary providers of GPS location data, which other companies then license. After correcting the location information with the correct Waze provider, it is a good idea to update with these two original providers. Instruction on how to do so can be found here ( http://www.gps.gov/support/user/mapfix/ ).

Last edited by HandofMadness on Wed Nov 06, 2013 7:14 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Its hard to tell. Seems State Route 35 passes through quite a few towns. It hard for me to know which have a valid number 1800. My understanding is that if waze understands the search to be for an address and Google doesn't return a result, then yes waze may just guess at the nearest number actually defined in the waze database.